104 



URTICAOEAE. 



X 



Recorded as Bermudian by Michaux, Reade and Hems ley. Naturalized from 

 Europe. Naturalized in both eastern and western North America. The plant 

 has not been observed in Bermuda recently. 



2. Urtica membranacea 

 Poir. Thin-leaved Nettle. 

 (Fig. 120.) Annual, spar- 

 ingly stinging-bristly ; stem 

 slender, v>'eak, ascending, 6- 

 3° long. Leaves slender- 

 petioled, thin, coarsely-den- 

 tate, the lower broadly ovate 

 or orbicular, obtuse or aeut- 

 isli at the apex, rounded or 

 subtruncate at the base, i'- 

 IV wide, the upper ovate or 

 lanceolate, acute or acumi- 

 nate at the apex; stipules 

 lanceolate-subulate; spikes 

 elongated, the upper stami- 

 nate, the lower pistillate. 



Common in waste grounds, 

 introduced from Europe. Flow- 

 ers from spring to autumn. 

 [U. chamaedroides of Hemsley.] 



Urtica dioica L., Great Nettle, European, a tall perennial species with 

 compound flower-clusters recorded as Bermudian by Rein, Jones, Reade, Lef roy, 

 H. B. Small and Hemsley, has not been found by recent collectors. 



2. PILEA Lindl. 



Herbs, with opposite petioled mostly 3-nerved leaves, connate stipules, and 

 small monoecious or dioecious flowers in axillary clusters. Staminate flowers 

 mostly 4-parted (sometimes 2- or 3-parted) and with a rudimentary ovary. 

 Pistillate flowers 3-parted, the segments in most species unequal, each subtend- 

 ing a staminodium in the form of a concave scale ; ovary straight ; stigma 

 sessile, penicillate. Achene compressed. Seed-coat thin. Endosperm scanty 

 or none. [The name is with reference to the cap-like 

 larger sepal.] About 150 species, chiefly in the 

 tropics, most abundant in tropical America. Type 

 species: Pilea muscosa Lindl. 



Glabrous ; leaves entire, 2''-5" long, elliptic to oblanceo- 



late. 1. P. microphylla. 



Pubescent ; leaves crenulate, 5"-8" long, suborbicular. 



2. P. nummulariaefolia. 



1. Pilea microphylla (L.) Liebm. Artillery 

 Plant. Lace Plant. (Fig. 121.) Annual or bien- 

 nial, slender, glabrous. Stems erect or ascending, or 

 sometimes creeping at the base, 2'-12' long, fleshy, 

 simple or mostly branched; leaves elliptic or oblance- 

 olate, 2"-5" long, acute or acutish at the apex, entire, 

 attenuate at the base, transversely wrinkled; petioles 

 filiform, shorter than the blades; flower-clusters very 

 small, shorter than the petioles; sepals ovate, very 

 thin, acutish; achenes oblong, lenticular. (P. serpyl- 

 lifolia of Lefroy; Parietaria microphylla L.) 



Roadsides, walls and waste grounds. Naturalized 

 from the West Indies. Native in southern Florida and 

 throughout tropical America. Flowers nearly through- 

 out the year. Commonly planted as a border in flower- 

 gardens, and grown in vases ; both thin-leaved and thick- 

 leaved races are grown. 



